The Blues midfielder stepped up to fire home from the spot with 13 minutes remaining after Patrick Vieira had clumsily felled Kevin Phillips .

Carlos Tevez and Aleksandar Kolarov had twice put the visitors ahead as they sought to keep the pressure on leaders Manchester United and second-placed Arsenal but Alex McLeish’s men refused to give up.

Tevez clipped home, via a deflection off Martin Jiranek, to give City a fourth-minute lead but Nikola Zigic claimed a touch from David Bentley ’s free-kick to level in the 23rd minute.

Kolarov’s curling set-piece restored City’s lead after they had lost Micah Richards to injury following a nasty looking fall in an aerial challenge.

The hosts pushed after the break and were rewarded when Gardner crashed home a late penalty to seal a point.